The Cure The Head on the Door released

The Head on the Door The Cure

Released: August 30, 1985 Peak: 59 US, 7 UK, -- CN, 6 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.1 UK, 0.7 world (includes US and UK) Genre: goth rock

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) In Between Days (Without You) [2:57] (7/15/85, 99 BB, 1 CO, 15 UK, 10 DF) Kyoto Song [4:16] The Blood [3:43] Six Different Ways [3:18] Push [4:31] The Baby Screams [3:44] Close to Me [3:23] (9/9/85, 97 BB, 64 CB, 1 CO, 13 UK, 12 DF) A Night Like This [4:16] (17 CO) Screw [2:38] Sinking [4:57] All songs written by Robert Smith. Total Running Time: 37:46 The Players: Robert Smith (vocals, guitar, keyboards) Porl Thompson (guitar) Simon Gallup (bass, keyboards) Lol Tolhurst (keyboards) Boris Williams (drums, percussion)

Rating: 4.010 out of 5.00 (average of 28 ratings) Quotable: “The Head on the Door is the first moment when sunshine first entered the dungeon.” – Tom Moon, 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

The Early Years The Cure formed in England in 1976. They released five albums from 1979 to 1984 with the latter two reaching the top-10 in the UK. The group also landed nine top-50 songs in the UK during that time. While they made little chart headway in the United States, songs like “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Let’s Go to Bed,” and “The Lovecats” were gaining stamina at college radio. The Cure’s sixth album, The Head on the Door, “is the first moment when sunshine first entered the dungeon.” TM The album “followed a series of grim dirge records, among them the critically acclaimed Pornography (1982) and The Top (1984). These earned the British five-piece a devoted following of mascara-wearing goth youth, and a one-way ticket to the rock-cliché pasture.” TM Aware of the latter, frontman Robert Smith “set out to broaden the group’s palette.” TM A New Sound The Cure “ended up changing their musical direction rather radically. While the band always had a pop element in their sound…The Head on the Door is where they become a hitmaking machine.” AM “Robert Smith figured out how to make gloom and doom danceable and popular to both alternative and mainstream rock audiences. It was a feat the band managed to pull off for many years afterward, but never as concisely or as impressively as they did here.” AM The Head on the Door was the first album where all the songs were written exclusively by Robert Smtih. WK He was inspired by Siouxsie and the Banshees’ Kaleidoscope and the Human League’s Dare! WK “He copped some of the bouncy synthesizer cues then powering New Wave pop. He wrote short songs and didn’t shy away from singable refrains. He and the rhythm section generated irresistible – and surprisingly funky – grooves, and augmented them with flamenco guitar and other exotica. So as not to completely startle the faithful, he sang this more buoyant stuff in the same distraught voice that had been the Cure’s most identifiable trademark. And he retained some of the despairing narratives of mope music.” TM New Lineup Also significant in changing the band’s sound was a new lineup. After 1984’s The Top, Andy Anderson and Phil Thornalley were jettisoned from the band and Boris Williams, the former drummer with the Thompson Twins, was added. Simon Gallup and Porl Thompson returned to the fold after a few years’ absence. Modern Rock Breakthrough The Head on the Door was significant for unleashing a couple of “modern rock radio staples.” AM “The opening track and first single, Inbetween Days, was compared to New Order’s material.” WK The song “recasts existential torment in grabby Eurobeat trappings.” TM That song and Close to Me featured “shiny, sleek production and laser-sharp melodies.” AM and “inspired videos had them in heavy rotation on MTV.” AM Critics described the latter as a “disco thing.” WK The album’s title came from a lyric in “Close to Me.” Other Songs “The rest of the record didn’t suffer for hooks and inventive arrangements either, making even the gloomiest songs like Screw and Kyoto Song sound radio-ready.” AM The latter “contains an oriental hook” WK while elsewhere on the album “The Blood is playing in a flamenco style” WK with “flamenco guitars and castanets.” AM It was because of the new lineup and Smith’s new approach to writing that the band were able to take “swings at bubbly styles [such as in ‘The Blood’] it couldn’t have pulled off before.” TM “The lengthy and majestic intro to Push, the swirling vocals on The Baby Screams) give the album a musical depth previous efforts lacked. All without sacrificing an ounce of the emotion of the past, which songs as quietly desperate as A Night Like This and Sinking illustrate.” AM The latter “was reminiscent of the band’s Faith era.” WK “The piano tune of Six Different Ways had been previously used by Smith during his tenure with Siouxsie and the Banshees for the single ‘Swimming Horses.’” WK Notes: In 2006, a deluxe edition added a second disc of 18 odds and ends, from home demo instrumentals, live bootleg recordings, and studio demos of unreleased songs.

Reviews: AM AllMusic.com review by Tim Sendra TM Tom Moon (2008). 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Workman Publishing Company, Inc.: New York, NY. Pages 198-9. WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Links: First posted 7/19/2008; last updated 8/26/2026.

Marillion “Lavender” released

Lavender Marillion

Writer(s): Fish, Mark Kelly, Steve Rothery, Pete Trewavas, Ian Mosley (see lyrics here) Released: August 27, 1985 First Charted: September 7, 1985 Peak: 5 UK, 5 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 9.6 video, 20.48 streaming

About the Song: Misplaced Childhood was the third studio album from the British neo-prog group Marillion. It was their commercial pinnacle, topping the UK charts and selling over 300,000 copies. The autobiographical concept album gave listeners a glimpse of lead singer Fish and his struggles with depression after a breakup, dealing with fame, succumbing to drug abuse, and finally finding the direction he needed. The album was fueled by the top-5 success of lead single “Kayleigh” and follow-up “Lavender.” The two songs remain the highest charting in the band’s history. While “Kayleigh” confronted the very adult problem of a failed relationship, “Lavender” was about “the innocence of childhood.” WK Fish wrote this about the song: “The guy’s looking back on childhood all the time. He looks on his childhood as being the ideal world, the simplicity of then. He can’t figure out at what point he stopped being a kid and became and adult.” JC Of course, by the end of the album, he finds out he doesn’t need to abandon that youthful spirit; he finds out he's only misplaced his childhood. The song features verses that are reminiscent of “Lavender’s Blue,” a 17th century English folk song. WK It also references the title track from Joni Mitchell’s The Hissing of Summer Lawns with the line “I was walking in the park / Dreaming of a spark / When I heard the sprinklers whisper, shimmer in the haze of summer lawns.” WK Because the album version of the song only ran two and a half minutes, the single was re-arranged and extended to 3:40. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Marillion DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fish Jon Collins (2003). Separated Out. Helter Skelter Publishing: London, England. Pages 63-4. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 2/14/2024.

Huey Lewis & the News "The Power of Love" hit #1

The Power of Love Huey Lewis & the News

Writer(s): Johnny Colla, Chris Hayes, Huey Lewis (see lyrics here) First Charted: June 28, 1985 Peak: 13 US, 13 BA, 12 CB 13 GR, 13 RR, 6 AC, 12 AR, 9 UK, 11 CN, 12 5 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.6 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 26.39 video, 372.31 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Hugh Anthony Cregg III (later known as Huey Lewis) was born in New York City in 1950, but grew up in the San Francisco bay area. In 1971, he joined the band Clover. After they disbanded in 1978, he formed Huey Lewis & the News. They released a self-titled album in 1980 which went nowhere, but their second album, 1982’s Picture This, featured the top-ten hit, “Do You Believe in Love?” The band exploded with their next album, 1983’s Sports. “Huey Lewis’ rise was perfectly timed to the beginning of MTV, a place where he carved out a persona as a handsome, self-effacing goofball everyman” SG amidst “the colorful, flamboyance of the British new-romatic artists.” MM The band “looked like working-class guys who spent their Sundays together watching football on TV.” MM The multi-platinum, #1 album sent four top-ten singles up the charts and made Lewis “one of the biggest stars in rock ‘n’ roll.” SG Lewis & Co. were tapped to write the theme song for Back to the Future, which became the biggest movie of 1985. It set the band up for “an unstoppable smash,” SG “The Power of Love.” “It’s got the sleek pulse of mid-’80s pop” SG and “has hooks on hooks on hooks, with all the keyboard stabs and shiny-bluesy riffs in the exact right places.” SG Lewis “wails out nonsensical…philosophical nuggets about how love is tougher than diamonds, rich like cream, and stronger and harder than a bad girl’s dream” SG while “the rest of the band gets in some nice Billy Joel-style fake doo-wop harmonies on the bridge.” SG It was one of two songs the group wrote for the movie. “Back in Time” actually fit the plot of the movie, but “The Power of Love” had nothing to do with the film. It showed up early in the film as star Michael J. Fox (Marty) skateboards out the door of his friend Doc Brown’s house. It shows up again when Marty and his band audition to play for the high school dance with a crude version of the song (the actual early demo) and one of the judges – played by Lewis – proclaims, “I’m afraid you’re just too darn loud.” The song was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Huey Lewis & the News MM Marc Myers (12/6/2022). Anatomy of 55 More Songs. Grove Press: New York, NY. Pages 335-9. SG Stereogum (10/21/2020). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 220-1. First posted 8/6/2023.

Today in Music (1935): Carter Family “Can the Circle Be Unbroken (Bye and Bye)” charted

Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By) The Carter Family

Writer(s): Ada R. Habershon, Charles H. Gabriel, A.P. Carter (adapted by) (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 24, 1935 Peak: 17 BB (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 3.70 video, 9.88 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: In his book Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Steve Sullivan says this is “perhaps the most beloved traditional song in all of country music.” SS “The power of its performance and its message – of sadness over the death of a loved one, transcended by contentment that she’s gone to a better place, and the knowledge that the family circle will continue – has resonated over the years.” SS It originated in 1907 as a gospel song by Ada R. Habershon and Charles Gabriel originally titled “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” According to Country Music Sources, the first country recording was done by Frank & James McCravy in 1927. Alvin Pleasant (A.P.) Carter rewrote the verses and retitled the song “Can the Circle Be Unbroken” but kept the melody and the chorus. SS The song was now set at a funeral with mourners pondering if they would ever be reunited with their mother. The Carter Family – consisting of A.P., his ex-wife Sara, and sister-in-law Maybelle, recorded the song in 1935. The trio were considered “the standard-bearers for the hillbilly songs that traced their heritage back to the first British folk melodies.” AC According to author Ace Collins, when it came to the Carter Family’s recording of “Unbroken” “those suffering through the Depression in the hills and valleys clung to it as if it were a personal statement of faith. It quickly became one of the most popular funeral hymns.” AC In 1968, Johnny Cash recorded “Daddy Sang Bass,” a song written by Carl Perkins that was based on “Unbroken.” Cash tapped the new version of the Carter Family, which consisted of Maybelle Carter and her daughters, to add harmonies. Daughter June married Cash that year. The song received attention again in 1972 when the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded an album called Will the Circle Be Unbroken which consisted of country classics with country legends like Maybelle Carter and others. It has also been recorded by Roy Acuff, Gregg Allman, Joan Baez, the Band, the Black Crowes, Jeff Buckley, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, John Lee Hooker, Jerry Lee Lewis, Moby, Bill Monroe, the Neville Brothers, Ralph Stanley, Mavis Staples, and Gene Vincent. WK Resources: AC Ace Collins (1996). The Stories Behind Country Music’s All-Time Greatest 100 Songs. New York, NY; The Berkley. Pages 27-8. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 39-40. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 8/24/2022; last updated 11/23/2025.

Night Ranger “Four in the Morning” charted

Four in the Morning Night Ranger

Writer(s): Jack Blades (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 17, 1985 Peak: 19 US, 24 CB, 22 GR, 21 RR, 13 AR, 84 CN, 10 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.43 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The rock band Night Ranger formed in San Francisco in 1979. Their debut album, 1982’s Dawn Patrol, gave them a top-40 hit with “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me.” Their follow-up album, 1983’s Midnight Madness, proved even more successful, generating the top-5 hit “Sister Christian” and the top-20 hit “When You Close Your Eyes.” The album reached platinum status. Their third album, 1985’s 7 Wishes, became the group’s most successful. It was another platinum seller and their only top 10 on the Billboard album chart. It gave them the top-10 hit “Sentimental Street,” followed by top-20 hits “Four in the Morning” and “Goodbye.” Jack Blades, the band’s bassist and co-lead singer, wrote the song “Four in the Morning,” subtitled “I Can’t Take Anymore” for the single release. He explained, “Literally, I wrote that song at 4 in the morning. I mean, I woke up, and I had an idea, (singing) ‘I can’t take anymore, I can’t fake anymore, it’s such a hard time loving you.’” However, he didn’t want to call the song “I Can’t Take Anymore, I Can’t Fake Anymore.” When he came up with the line “Four in the morning came without a warning,” he realized that was the title. SF All Music Guide critic Doug Stone said the song “contains some of Blades’ sharpest whiskey pontificating.” AMG While the song is about being tormented by love, Blades has actually been married to his wife, Mollie, for more than 30 years. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Night Ranger AMG All Music Guide SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 1/14/2023.

50 years ago: “Cheek to Cheek” hit #1 for first of 11 weeks

Cheek to Cheek Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman’s Orchestra

Writer(s): Irving Berlin (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 3, 1935 Peak: 111 US, 15 HP, 14 GA, 18 SM, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 4.81 video, 10.93 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

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Awards (Ella & Louis version): Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Many of the era’s top songwriters worked with Astaire, smitten by “his debonair touch with a song” TM and dance numbers, usually with Ginger Rogers, which rank “among the most powerful expressions of courtship, love and loss in screen history.” TM Over the years, composer Irving Berlin crafted thirteen songs which landed in Astaire movies – all of which peaked at #15 or higher. “Cheek to Cheek,” which Berlin wrote in a day, was one of three to hit #1. TM It wasn’t just any #1, though; it “became one of Berlin’s greatest commercial successes,” TY1 spending more weeks atop the pop charts than any other song from 1935. CPM Berlin used Astaire’s “frail-but-convincing tenor” TM to his advantage writing lines like “And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak” to accompany a melody which jumped up to a note Astaire could barely sing. TM The dance sequence for the song became he and Ginger Rogers’ “most famous romantic duet,” but it was not without problems. SB When Astaire sang and danced to it in the 1935 film Top Hat, Rogers wore a gown covered with ostrich feathers which, to Astaire’s horror, shed with every dance movement.” SB He later said, “It was like a chicken attacked by a coyote, I never saw so many feathers in my life.” SB Despite Astaire’s reaction, Rogers was determined to wear the dress. Seamstresses were able to largely resolve the problem in time for another shoot the next day, but some hard feelings lingered. Astaire and Hermes Pan, the film’s choreographer, “serenaded Rogers with a parody of the song: ‘Feathers – I hate feathers/ And I hate them so that I can hardly speak/ And I never find the happiness I seek/ With those chicken feathers dancing/ Cheek to Cheek.’” SB Astaire later gave Rogers a small gold feather for her charm bracelet as well as a note saying, “Dear Feathers, I love ya! Fred.” SB “Cheek to Cheek” garnered an Academy Award nomination for best song. Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, and Doris Day recorded the song as well. MM It also became a jazz standard being recorded by notables such as Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Resources: MM Max Morath (2002). The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to Popular Standards. New York, NY; Penguin Putnam Inc. Page 154. SB Songbook blog TM Time magazine (10/24/2011). “All Time 100 Songs” CPM Joel Whitburn (1999). A Century of Pop Music. Record Research, Inc.: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 52. Related Links: First posted 7/30/2014; last updated 3/20/2023.